Whenever there’s talk of a sports team relocating it provides the local politicians the opportunity to address their constituents who have one particular focused interest. With the Coyotes situation in Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona the talk of that team potentially being sold and moved brought more than enough attention for the members of the Glendale city council.

In Atlanta where the Thrashers appear to be on the brink of being sold and headed off to Winnipeg, Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed isn’t quite going to the same lengths to grab the spotlight that such a situation might dictate. While we saw so much action in favor of keeping the team in Arizona, Reed’s words today about the possibility of the Thrashers leaving town gives you a good idea of how difficult times are in Atlanta.

“We have not yet had any of the individuals in our community prepared to take that on, but it’s not for a lack of trying,” Mayor Reed said.

The current owners, the Atlanta Spirit Group, are negotiating a possible sale to True North Sports, which would move the team to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season.

“Anytime we lose a major sports franchise, it’s tough,” Reed told 11Alive News on Tuesday. “It’s going to hurt the city, but we’ll withstand it and get through it. We have a lot of positive things going on in the sports franchise space that we’ll be announcing soon.”

That last quote from Mayor Reed seems to point towards an eventuality that we’re all assuming is going to happen. After all, if the mayor says they’ve got plans already set to go… Well, what’s the hold up then? That hold up is the ongoing negotiations going on between True North Sports and Entertainment and Atlanta Spirit Group.

With the way things are shaping up there and the speculation running wild all over the Internet, the announcement of a deal being done in the very near future seems likely. We’re not about to go pinning a date on things, but don’t be shocked if something is done before this week is out.